Aliaksei Protas spoke to Nic Dowd about unfortunate head collision that led to injury: 'He's feeling way better now in terms of how the face looks'

"I texted him, like, next day. He sent me a couple pictures. Didn't look great from him, so he also got it pretty good. But good for him coming back to that game. I think he's feeling way better now in terms of how the face looks."

"I feel like we were supposed to be fine. We were both kind of slowing down on that play, but the push from the D kind of caught me off guard. I don't think it was really needed from him, so I didn't expect that coming from behind."

"I mean, there's no great time for injuries, for sure. But, yeah, especially right now when we fight for our lives. Sure, you want to be there with the boys. You want to help. It is what it is."

Aliaksei Protas collided with Nic Dowd during a game, resulting in Dowd sustaining a cut above his eyebrow but returning to play. Protas, however, suffered an upper-body injury and missed the remainder of the game and two subsequent games. He communicated with Dowd post-collision, expressing concern for his teammate's condition. Protas criticized the unnecessary contact from Golden Knights defenseman Jeremy Lauzon that led to his injury. The Capitals won one game during Protas's absence but lost another, impacting their playoff chances significantly.

Read at RMNB